dustbunny105: (Default)

[personal profile] dustbunny105 2016-08-04 03:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Rushing out to fight doesn't stand a realistic chance either. They die there, the pod people are at best stuck in stasis on a planet that, until this arc, everyone ignored. And Megatron is still inside when the rest go out, which means that someone would be going in after them. Going into battle after he refuses to join them actually puts the pod people in more danger. Stealing a ship-- which would be tricky, but still doable, imo-- at least leads the Decepticons away from the fortress and also means that, if nothing else, the group has a chance to alert someone. And if they'd suffered losses in that scenario, I'd have been able to roll with it a lot better. Which is to say, at all.

The supercharge isn't part of the original plan and that's a major sticking point for me. Until Velocity gets the idea, they're intending to go out as they are. It's not a good plan or even a plan I can believe they would all agree to with hardly a moment's discussion. And then when the supercharge idea does come up, I still can't get into it because a) the fact that it can be reliably replicated at all makes me roll my eyes just thinking about it and b) there's still no appreciable change to their strategy (such as it is).
q99: (Default)

[personal profile] q99 2016-08-04 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
One thing I strongly get the impression of- heck, that Prowl has outright complained about in the past- is the Autobots are *used* to daring last-minute ideas and heroics turning the tide.

They don't have a plan, but Rodimus has pulled out enough rabbits from his hat, and the other Autobots have seen Optimus and similar do the same, that on some level they're assuming some brilliant move will save them, especially with such an extraordinary crew as they have with them.
dustbunny105: (Default)

[personal profile] dustbunny105 2016-08-04 10:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't disagree that Autobots seem to tend to rely on last minute miracles to some degree, but I don't at all get the impression that that's what's happening in this scenario. And it isn't what I'd expect all the characters involved to fall back on either, general attitude notwithstanding. Heck, that could've been a perfect chance to spotlight Nautica and especially Velocity's outsider status, for instance.
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[personal profile] q99 2016-08-05 02:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Yea, missed opportunity there. With Nautica, she's got the reason of her ring of very close friends. With Velocity, there's staying with Nautica, but are they that close? If she is, that'd be worth noting.
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[personal profile] dustbunny105 2016-08-07 04:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, Velocity is among Nautica's amica circle, so they are presumably that close (though I wouldn't have thought so before that scene, tbh). But both of them, Velocity especially, are still getting used to the weirdness and danger. Even if they stayed, it's weird to me they wouldn't object to or even seem reluctant about going out into such a lopsided battle when it isn't necessary yet. Then there's Brainstorm, who's a committed coward and reluctant to use a weapon himself. Ultra Magnus and Skids should both have a better appreciation for considered strategy than they display. Rewind and Chromedome were previously said to be giving each other the cold shoulder over both remaining in danger. I'm still scratching my head that Ravage not only went out into the battle without Megatroin but also actually stuck around to fight.

Honestly, it isn't even just that they go out to fight that gets me, it's that they settle so quickly on doing so. Like they're beholden to Tarn's time limit despite having found a way to hold the DJD and company at bay. They could give Chromedome more time to recover, have Brainstorm make some more weapons, wait for Rung and Nightbeat to get back, try to convince Megatron to join the fight, come up with an actual battlefield strategy since they were relying on the shield right up until the last minute, see if the enemy will waste energy and ammo on the shield and force them to rethink their own strategy. Idk, I'd think the opportunity to say, "Screw you, we'll come out and fight when we feel like it," at least would be appealing. Like, I harp on about the shipjacking because it's my personal favorite alternative to the way the story went, but the base level is that I can't get into the way the story went.
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[personal profile] q99 2016-08-08 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
Yea, things did seem a bit crammed and in need of more time (or perceived time at least) deciding on it.

Ravage I get- The DJD is there, they'll kill every con with Megatron, period. And he's no coward, he fights pretty often, so he'd rather go down swinging- which is part of why Megatron's not was so disappointing to him.

The shield thing? Waiting til a more surprising time to strike would make sense, I'm with you there.
dustbunny105: (Default)

[personal profile] dustbunny105 2016-08-08 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
Fair point about Ravage. I think what was throwing me off where he's concerned is that, by the time of the battle, he's kind of faded in with the rest of the group since he's not a big focus (disappointment in Megatron notwithstanding) and so I was reading it as him fighting with them, not fighting for his own life.